--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ AC_SUBST(host)
 # pybuilddir.txt will be created by --generate-posix-vars in the Makefile
 rm -f pybuilddir.txt
 
-AC_CHECK_PROGS(PYTHON_FOR_REGEN, python$PACKAGE_VERSION python3 python, python3)
+AC_CHECK_PROGS(PYTHON_FOR_REGEN, python$PACKAGE_VERSION python python2, python)
 AC_SUBST(PYTHON_FOR_REGEN)
 
 if test "$cross_compiling" = yes; then